Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley spoke candidly to the press after watching his makeshift side beaten 80-6 at Hull FC on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s what he had to say.
What are your thoughts?
It’s been like most weeks to be honest, there’s clearly a gulf in class and like I said before, it’s a sad situation. That’s my resounding emotion at the minute. The week that we’ve had has been particularly tough, the last couple of weeks have been the toughest and losing Ryan and Jack was tough to take. Probably the last of our original group in terms of experienced players. I have a lot of gratitude for the lads that have turned up from other clubs because of the attitude they’ve shown but this sport is too hard to meet people for the first time on the bus on the way to a stadium like this against a team like this. A sad situation really, it’s upsetting.
Is this the lowest moment of the season?
They blend into one now, I’ve gone a little bit numb. It’s a tough one to take.
Is there any reason for hope?
It doesn’t feel like it at the minute. I think you’ve got to hold onto something and for the lads that are left, the youngsters that are left, you have to paint a picture that’s bright for them. If you can do that with having some having substance behind you, at the minute I can’t but I would hope that things become clearer in the near future, days not weeks. I need that for myself as well. The staff need it for themselves.
It’s not just the fans, everyone needs something to hold onto, something tangible, light at the end of the tunnel. If you can see light at the end of the tunnel you keep going and we’re all surprised how resilient we are as human beings. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the staff at the club, back office and front office. The ones who left, the ones who are still here, everyone has always had the club first mentality, from Kurt my assistant to everybody.
The word professional generally people think means just getting paid but it’s about how consistent you are and the standards you set yourself and old yourself to. We have an unbelievable group of professional people at Salford that just want to compete and win. I can’t speak highly enough of everyone at the club.
What did you say the new loan players at the end?
I said thanks. There’s not much more I can say. I’m not on a journey with them to develop them or anything like that. I accept that if we can facilitate their own personal journey at their club or whatever it may look like then… it’s good to acknowledge that we don’t expect them to come here and start kissing the badge. I think once you get that out of the way you can relax and enjoy the game but there was nothing enjoyable about that.
When you see a game like that, how hard is that personally for you and does it have an impact on whether you’ll carry on in the role?
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m questioning that and have done previously. I think everyone does and our players have. Generally when you speak like this straight after the game, you speak on adrenaline and when you speak on adrenaline in the 10 or 15 minutes after the game it’s an emotional response. I tend not to commit to too many big statements straight after the game. I’ll stick with that but being transparent and honest, I would suggest that I’m not different to anybody at the club who has questioned. I think it’s just looking for something to cling onto and work towards is all we want. For so long the unity and camaraderie within the club has been what’s kept us together. Every person who has left has not wanted to leave and I think that shows you that Salford has got something really special.
All of our opposing supporters and clubs have been fantastic with us and I have to say Hull today just top that off with players, staff and supporters, they were fantastic and appreciated what they did for our team today in terms of showing their appreciation.
Classy. Massive respect @hullfcofficial ❤️🙌 pic.twitter.com/bV3wrz69Pa
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) August 10, 2025
On Ryan and Jack, how difficult was that to see them leave?
Every player that’s left has been difficult because that’s the relationship that I as a coach and my staff, we pride ourselves on fostering that togetherness. It’s been evident that Salford has had that. You have to remember that since 2019 this club has been in the Challenge Cup final, a Grand Final and produced two Man of Steels, within the last five or six years we’ve been hitting highs and batting above our average consistently. Today I think we put out a team with a salary cap value of just under £200,000. I reckon we’d be in the bottom half of the Champ with that salary cap. It’s just a tough day.
Did you see Ryan’s interview on Sky and how gut-wrenching was that to hear him say those words?
Yeah, and I think if every player whose left had done an interview, if they could speak as eloquently as Ryan, they would probably put it in the same manner. I think he reflected the attitude and thoughts of every player that has left. I know they all go on and they’ll enjoy their new environment but you see them after games with players playing for other teams, you see them get together and they’re pleased to see each other. You can’t keep looking back on it. It’s sad to see but it’s something to look back on with pride. We look back on that with pride, retain those relationships but move forward in the game, look at what’s next and get our teeth into something. We want to start preparing for what’s next with some direction, substance and clarity. That’s what we seek as staff.
You’ve got six games left, how do you get your squad up for them, how do you get yourself up for them? Is there any fear that some of those won’t go ahead?
Well, the loans are one-week loans. They changed the rules, usually it’s a minimum of two but they’ve now allowed one, so we could have a totally different team of loan players next week but I’m not sure people will be jumping through their skin. What are we on now, squad number 60? I don’t know we’ll run out of shirts soon I think.
